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Just cut the fret slots on a rosewood fingerboard and ripped thin strips of rosewood to give it that nice faux bound look. I was going to clamp things up with LMI white glue, but thought it might be a good idea to ask a couple of questions before I do so. First, is that the right kind of glue to use here? Second, whatever glue one should use, how do you prevent squeeze out from filling the ends of the fret slots?

Thanks,

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George :-)

George, you can use the lmi glue or superglue. I cut little plastic filler strips out of .023 teflon I purchased from McMaster Carr, it does a good job of keeping the glue out. If you use the white glue almost any plastic would work thats the right thickness, I believe I've heard of people using the lid to a butter container or such, you might check the thickness there. It's also possible to clean the squeeze out from slots with an x-acto knife. It's a pain however.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Thanks, Jim. Little plastic spacers... brilliant! The ingenuity around here never ceases to amaze me. The thought of scraping out the glue with a blade is what gave me pause. I'm so glad I posted here before charging ahead. Now, to the plastic recycling bin!

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George :-)

This little gizmo....."the fret slot cleaning tool" from stewmac works great for scooping out excess glue when putting on fretboard binding, not designed for this use but works really good

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... l_Set.html

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Gwaltney Guitars

You can make one of those by grinding an Xacto blade.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Yeah, done that too, works fine but the blade is not as tough.

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

Gotta ask - I know whay a bound fingerboard is, but what is a faux bound fingerboard?

Ed

Me cut a few slots in a piece of scrap, went to the junk store and found a paring knife that just fit. Ground off the edge and ground in a hook... works great...cost all
of 50 cents.

Did the same thing for a micro purfling chisel, although me had to search a bit harder to find the right thickness for the blade.

The trick is to be carefull in the grinding so as to not overheat the blade and loose the temper in the steel.

blessings
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Why have you replaced the word "I", using instead, "me"?
Because of that, I find it a bit tedious to read your posts.

Thin CA with the board turned on its side... brilliant!

To me, avoiding scraping, carving or scooping dried or even wet glue is key. I have a drawer full of dentistry tools, miniature saws and teeny scrapers of all description, but I'd rather not use them.

Thanks for the replies,

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George :-)

Ed, I think faux bound usually refers to using an ebony fingerboard, clipping the fret tangs before installing them like a bound board, and then fill the fret slot ends with black epoxy or similar and sand flush.

I use LMI glue for the bindings, and an old dull x-acto knife (#11 blade) to scoop the glue out of the corners of the slots before it dries (and again after radiusing to clear the dust out). It is kind of a pain, but fiddling with plastic spacers doesn't sound that much easier. Grinding a hook into the knife blade might help, but keep in mind that you don't have to be perfect. Just poke the knife into the corner and tilt it up to squeeze most of the glue out, maybe scrape around a bit if there's a lot of glue, but a little in the corner isn't going to get in the way.

Thin CA with the board on its side is a nice idea though, might give that a try next time...

Gee,

sorry that reading me writings find tedious you do.

Since nothing of great import to say has me, perhaps it best be to read them not.

Simple eh?

blessings

Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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I use lmi white and use a hot knife to burn it out of the corners.

I found a lid to a plastic container that fit the fret slots perfectly, so I cut strips and fitted them in place. Went ahead and used LMI white glue and everything is clamped and drying now. We'll see how it goes.

Regarding the term faux bound fingerboard, I've always interpreted that to mean a fingerboard bound with the same material as the fingerboard itself, simulating the look of fret slots that have been milled as opposed to cut with a saw. It is quite possible, in fact highly probable, that I am misusing the term. :-)

Thanks again for all the replies. The support among the membership here is incredibly helpful.

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George :-)

Faux; from the French word for false or fake and is usually a paint treatment.

So a Faux finger board would be something like pear wood died black to look like ebony

a Faux Bound fingerboard would have the ends of the fret slots filled to match the wood of the fretboard and in cheap guitars, the edges would be painted to look like binding.

Technically speaking, staining or adding pigments to a finish would also qualify as a Faux finish, although we don't use the term in that manner.


blessings
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Thanks, Padma, but I'm familiar with the origin, definition, and common usage of the word faux. Obviously, how it fits in the lexicon of contemporary guitar building is less clear to me. Sorry if I confused anyone.

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George :-)

I like to us CA for gluing binding to the fretboard. First off there is nothing to clean up. Second, you can get the binding perfect on the bottom of the board and at the nut end before any glue gets used.

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I think John Watkins was the first one to call fretboards 'faux bound', though I could be wrong on that. He was referring to selling boards with blind cut fret slots, so the slots didn't go all the way to the edges of the board. I used to call them 'boundless', but not I just call 'em blind slots. Ron Thorn, to my knowledge, is the first to have done it but I don't know that he ever bothered to name the process.

People were binding boards with their own offcuts long before any of this, but they never called it anything special. I don't think binding with the offcuts should be called 'faux bound', though, since there's nothing false about it at all. I think the only really 'faux' bound ones would be the ones with milled or goop filled slots.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Thanks for the backstory, Bob. I didn't think I'd made the whole thing up, but stranger things have happened. :-) I agree that calling them "faux bound" is a misnomer, as they are actually bound.

George :-)

P.S. For all those keeping score at home, the plastic spacers worked great--no glue removal required. Here's how it turned out:

does anyone ever get a High E string stuck under the lip of a fret? Happens to me all the time on my bound fingerboard guitar.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

All great suggestions , my biggest problem is finding who sells the strips of faux ! I have searched EVERYWHERE !!

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The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
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Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
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You have to cut down a faux tree from a doctor's or dentist's office and mill it yourself.

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Meow!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Excellent explanation Todd. But your puns are a little off. It's actually pronounced "fuh", not "foh". The best I've seen is a place in Seattle area called "What The Pho"

And I always thought faux bound referred to routing the slots without cutting all the way to the edge, thus looking bound but not actually having to glue anything. So "faux bound look" is indeed correct here, even though it is really fully and not fauxly bound

I use LMI white glue, and a dull x-acto knife to clean the slots before it dries. Slide it along the bottom of the slot into the corner to get underneath the glue, then tilt it up and it squeezes up and out. Gotta hurry though, LMI white sets up pretty quick.